Jasper vs Shepton vs Clark

[BstYet2Be]

Originally Posted by Shayne_

Where exactly is Jasper?

.
Jasper High School
6800 Archgate Drive
Plano, TX 75024
Phone: (469) 752-7400
Fax: (469) 752-7401

See:
.....PISD - Secondary Schools

.....PISD - Attendence Boundaries

.....PISD - Directions to Schools
..

[Presia]

Jasper is in a well-balanced area, financially. You're not going to hit bottom poor or ultra-wealthy.

I grew up in an area that fed from Schimelpfenig -> Shepton -> Plano Senior; I was in the last class prior to Jasper opening up (1995-ish).

When Jasper opened, Jasper got half or more of the better teachers from Shepton back then.

Now, when I went to Shepton, it was located over where Plano West is located today. I grew up in a lower-middle class home, and I never knew was REALLY wealthy people were like. I had one friend in Shepton (not from Schmelpfenig) who asked me if I had a trust fund set up for college, if I was going to get a new car, etc... and I had no idea about these types of 'entitlements' from parents. My parents expected me to get to college through scholarships and working hard. I had once visited this 'friend's' house located in Willowbend ($750,000+)... dropped my jaw to the type of wealth they had...never understood how well off his family was until then. He invited me to do a lot of things that required a lot of money, and I could never say yes. And after a bit of that went on, I lost my friend after the realization of the money gap..different worlds...

Long story short... OP: your daughter will be more comfortable in a more even-wealth distributed area, with people who are more in-tune with her. You're also getting the benefit of great teachers - there are some who taught me who are still there, a-bit aged

[Dfw789]

We found a GREAT house near Parker and Midway. It's not on sale yet but they are my SIL's friends and they are relocating overseas in summer. We all LOVEd this house and this is going to save us good money because they are willing to sell it below market if it saves them time and realtor's fee. They have two kids on the street who share a van service with other IB kids from west side. We will be minutes away from both tollways and our family at Park/Preston. Keeping my fingers cross for a satisfactory inspection and appraisal. This house was custom built in 1997 and whole subdivision is awesome and within few minutes walk to Arbor Hills Reserve. This is going to save me around 15 minutes each way compared to my current drive from Allen to Irving. Did I mention 0.3 acres, green belt and a pool!!!!!

[risheek]

I went to rice middle school, and now i am going to jasper. The best choices are either clarke or jasper. i am a 10th grader right now at jasper. I went to clarke for one semester last year, and overall i think jaspers better

[Warnpeace]

All three are good schools. Jasper & Shepton feed to Plano West Sr High while Clark feeds to PESH. Clark has IB section which is quite prestigious and many kids from Shepton and Jasper transfer to Clark for that program. Shepton is near million dollar properties, Jasper is middle class and Clark is lower middle class majority. Shepton has better athletic program and Jasper has more AP courses. All in all it depends on the individual because merit scholars come out of all three schools.

[Weimanxi]

Shepton has plenty of wealthy, not so wealthy and lots of mid/upper middle class kids too. The same AP courses are offered at all of the PISD high schools, so that shouldn't be an issue. BTW, I've met a few parents who have chosen Shepton over Jasper because it is a little bit less competitive, though all of the kids are competing eventually when they get to Plano West. I'm a bit biased (we are zoned to Shepton) but a majority of leadership positions at West are held by Shepton students.

[CMC_TX]

Originally Posted by Dfw789

This is surprising because all my friends who have children going to Shepton are quite happy with it and would not consider living in Jasper area though they can buy a lot more for their money in that zip code and it is mostly a nice area. As far as extreme ends of wealth spectrum, this is part of life so that's not even a legit issue. By the way, where are these poor kids coming from? Even cheaper apartment there aren't that cheap. Aren't there any poor or rich areas feed into other Jasper? I hear that even Highland Park and Coppell have trailer parks feeding into their high schools. I know that Allen is not an ideal school district for academics but we have kids from all economical groups in our high school here and we do not have any out of the norm issues.

Well, the apartments along Preston and Ohio aren't cheap. But the ones along McCallum in Dallas sure are, as are some of the ones around Frankford and Tollway. Don't forget the DHA project at Hillcrest/PGBT. PISD dips into Dallas farther than most people are aware. Some of those places (like the lots that back up to White Rock Creek) are loaded with cash, but a lot aren't. As has been discussed here before, the myth of all-rich Plano West is just that - a myth.

Big G is exactly right on with the statement above. Shepton & Plano West draws from 75252 & 75287 zip codes, which are City of Dallas in the "Far North Dallas" area. Don't get me wrong, there are very affluent neighborhoods in this area also feeding to Shepton, e.g. Oakdale, Oaktree, Bent Tree, etc ... However, as Big G states, there are also many tenement style apartments along McCallum & also clustered just south of the PGBT. These are what they're referring to in terms of the "very poor" at Shepton & Plano West. This is not the case at Jasper. As others have mentioned, Jasper is a more solid middle to upper middle class demographic & there are less apartments in the attendance zone. The ones that are in the attendance zone have higher rents than the Far North Dallas apartments feeding to Shepton & the housing project off Hillcrest.

As far as HPISD, is this a joke? There is NOT a trailer park in HPISD, sorry. The most ghetto HPISD gets is maybe a handful of families renting apartments/condos most likely intended for SMU students, and even those are going to start at over 1K/month for a 1 bedroom. This probably represents less than 2% of the HPISD student body. HP/UP = most expensive real estate in Dallas.

[Someone you don't know]

I have a child in the Jasper feeding system. What I like most is that it is a relatively small neighborhood that feeds it Most of the kids come from similar economic backgrounds, wheras the Shepton system is a very broad range. Where are the cheap apts? As someone else said, the Dallas part. What I never understood was why north plano residents above McDermott are being shipped to Frisco schools and those West of the Tollway are in Lewisville schools, but PISD has to take on Dallas and Murphy kids. Its just weird. Anyhow, since I now live just south of the Robinson/Jasper zone, I just did a transfer request to keep my child in his quieter school of choice because I did not think he would do well in the more rambunctious Frankford/Shepton school. By the time they all get to Plano West, I won't mind him being in a bigger school because it will prepare him for the diversity of college. Bear in mind that Plano has an open school format that allows transfers where there is room. So, as long as a parent can get their child to and from school, you could have rich or poor children at any given school. Besides, rich or poor doesn't determine how good the school is; it is the behavior of the kids and the quality of the teachers.

[FolkArtsy]

This is an old thread, OP's kid must be a junior in PWSH by now. Things have changed a bit, Shepton has a new principal and doing very well. Jasper is still school of choice for middle class tiger moms though a good percentage of students from both schools opt for IB/Health/STEM academies.

School districts don't follow city boundaries. You can live in Little Elm ISD and have Frisco schools or live in Frisco and have McKinney schools. By the way, 70% of homes west of tollway feed to Plano West schools. Only ones outside Collin County lines feed to Lewisville ISD. Hebron High is no PWSH but it's a decent school though most people take advantage of the short drive to private schools instead of using LISD schools.

All Plano schools have PISD resources behind them and you can transfer to any one you prefer, usually housing budget determines the school cluster.

[coltseaver]

Surprisingly kids from Shepton, Clark, Jasper, Vines, McMillen and Williams have gone on to college and subsequently have successful lives. Your kid will get a great education in Plano regardless of which choice you make. Pick a house that suits your needs that you and your family can be happy in for a while. When your daughter is away at college, you and your spouse can sit on your patio over a drink and laugh about how back in the day you thought the middle school she attended was significant.